UGC has told universities to stop printing Aadhaar on marksheets

The University Grants Commission has rolled back an year-old directive asking universities to print students’ Aadhaar number on their marksheets. The commission said printing the Aadhaar number would amount to a breach of security and confidentiality since the 12-digit number would be known by multiple parties and therefore would be a violation of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

“These regulations prevent the Aadhaar data to be published, displayed or posted publicly and also provides penalties for such offences,” says the notice, adding that, “Therefore, you are requested not to publish or display the Aadhaat number of the students publicly.”

The directive (pdf) in effect, has asked all universities which had begun printing Aadhaar cards on marksheets to reverse the change. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi had already begun complying with the older directive. Last year, JNU allegedly refused to accept dissertations of students who did not have an Aadhaar, as it was mandatory for PhD students to submit the UID in the proforma document, following the UGC directive.

In March 2017, the UGC directed (pdf) all universities to start printing the Aadhaar number of students on their marksheets to “mark a student’s personal identity and other associated details.”

The question of constitutional validity of Aadhaar is ongoing in the Supreme Court, and the judgment is expected soon.